ECOSYSTEM REPORT CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy - Calgary Economic Development
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CreativeCITY:
Prosperity through the
Creative Economy
ECOSYSTEM
REPORT
Photo Credit: Emil Agopian
Val Duncan in Klimt’s Playthings,
courtesy of Theatre Encounter
AT A GLANCE
THE PROBLEM
Despite its significant economic, social, human, and environmental contributions to our
region, Calgary’s creative economy is underleveraged and overlooked due to a creative
ecosystem that is fragmented and inefficient.
THE POTENTIAL
ECONOMIC HUMAN SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT
Current Status: » Higher educational » Over 49,000 volunteers » Acts as an important
» 12,000 enterprises achievement in arts and culture, mechanism for
totalling nearly 7.3 education and
» 32,000 employees » Improved mental health
million hours or 3,670 awareness-raising about
and overall well-being
» Annual direct impact of full-time job equivalents environmental issues,
$2.1 billion » Creativity in the including climate change
» Improves social cohesion
workplace increases
Underleveraged areas: and sense of community » Improves energy
workers’ sense of value
A city identity built » Increases civic efficiency and emissions
» and accomplishment
around creativity participation reduction through
sustainable design
» Diverse forms of arts » Supports urban
revitalization and » Developing creative
and culture
community building solutions to
» Talent acquisition environmental problems
» Talent retention
» Talent development
THE VISION
Calgary is Canada’s most livable city
THE MISSION
Calgary’s creative economy is recognized as a global leader through a sustained,
collaborative commitment to the city’s prosperity.
EMBED AUDACIOUS CREATIVITY MOBILIZE CALGARY’S CREATIVE
INTO OUR CITY’S DNA: CAPACITY:
To develop and retain Calgary’s exceptional
To fully leverage the robust, growing
creative talent, we must work to ensure creative
creative economy in Calgary, creativity
professionals, new or seasoned, have the
needs to be at the heart of everything we
knowledge, skills and resources required to
do as a city.
succeed.
THE VALUE THE DIVERSITY OF CALGARY’S
INCUBATE CREATIVE COLLISIONS:
PLAN CREATIVITY:
Unifying our creative economy under one As Canada’s third most diverse city, Calgary
identity requires creating conditions for has an opportunity to tap into the unique
collaboration, cross-sector partnerships, perspectives and experiences of our diverse
knowledge transfer, and resource sharing. creative class to build something new, authentic,
and meaningful for everyone in the city.
CONTENTS
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1
2 What is the Creative Economy?
3 The Value of a Creative Economy
4 Calgary’s Creative Economy
5 Opportunities for Calgary’s Creative Economy
6 Being Inspired: Creative Successes in Calgary and Around the World
7 A Creative Economy Strategy for Calgary
2 SETTING THE STAGE 9
10 Background
11 Defining the Creative Economy
14 Value of the Creative Economy
3 SITUATION ANALYSIS 20
21 Calgary’s Creative Economy
23 City Plans and Policies
25 Economic Resource Audit
30 Capacity Building Resource Audit
32 Social and Structural Resource Audit
34 Human Resource Audit
36 Natural Resource Audit
4 OPPORTUNITY ANALYSIS 38
39 Emerging Trends and the Creative Economy
46 Opportunities for Calgary
CONTENTS
5 BEING INSPIRED: CREATIVE SUCCESSES 50
52 Creative Successes Around the World
58 Creative Successes at Home
62 Works in Progress
6 STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 64
65 Vision & Mission
66 From Insights to Strategic Pillars
69 A Roadmap for Calgary’s Creative Economy
7 THE WAY FORWARD 70
8 CREDITS 71
9 APPENDICES 73
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Photo Credit: Greg MacKay
Performance at The Core Shopping Centre, courtesy of the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra
Photo Credit: Kiah Lucero
VR Showcase, courtesy of CSIF
What is the
Creative Economy?
The creative economy looks at creativity as an output that
intersects job fields, rather than isolated to particular industries.
Adopting an ecosystems lens, the creative economy recognizes
the connections between fields such as education, arts, culture
and innovation, rather than viewing them in isolation. It maps the
interdependence of these as unique drivers of direct and indirect
economic outputs. Adopting this lens leads to a fundamental
reassessment of the role creativity plays in areas ranging from
education to industrial design, to organizational theory.
We use the UK’s National Endowment for Science, Technology
and the Arts (Nesta) view of the creative economy, which looks
at creativity at the occupational level rather than the industry
level. This allows us to gain a more accurate understanding
of the economic role creativity plays and allows us to better
Photo Credit: Hero Images understand how creativity permeates every industry, whether it
Makerspace Workshop, courtesy of Fuse33 is in medicine, oil and gas, or technology.
Photo Credit: Trudie Lee
The cast of The Louder We Get, courtesy of Theatre Calgary
2 CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORT
The Value of a
Creative Economy
The value of the creative economy relates to how it contributes
to the prosperity of the community and everyone who lives in
it, which can be viewed across four interdependent dimensions:
economic prosperity, social prosperity, human prosperity, and
environmental prosperity.
ECONOMIC PROSPERITY HUMAN PROSPERITY
Considering creative industries’ supply chain impact and wages At the individual level, creativity is essential to developing
that are reinvested into the economy, their economic footprint personal identities and self expression. It has been tied to
reached $3.85 billion in Calgary. This impact also resulted in greater educational achievement, improved mental health and
$48.8 million in municipal tax contributions and $238.1 million general health outcomes, and better personal well-being. Within
in provincial tax contributions in 2016.1 These outputs, however, communities, creativity influences how we engage and relate
do not consider the economic impact of creativity across other to others through shared experiences, values, and cultural
industries. Sectors from oil and gas, to agriculture, to finance all connections. On the job, integrating creative work approaches
depend on creatives for innovation and enhancing productivity: in the workplace is linked to an increased sense of value and
they are the designers, problem solvers, and communicators that accomplishment.
support industries viewed as integral to Calgary’s economy. A
city’s creativity and creative class are also essential for building
a resilient economy, attracting and retaining young professional
ENVIRONMENTAL PROSPERITY
talent, and drawing greater business investment. There is creativity in how we interact with our environment,
and it will be a crucial component in achieving environmental
SOCIAL PROSPERITY sustainability. Mitigating the effects of climate change and
sustaining our natural environment will require investment
Creativity and the creative economy help create social value, in research and innovation to find creative solutions. The
contributing to overall community prosperity. They are tied creative economy and creative occupations contribute the
to greater levels of civic participation, urban revitalization, designers, communicators, and problem solvers needed to push
community building, and social cohesion, which in turn can development in a direction that balances our impact on the
improve safety and security and further strengthen the economy. environment.
Photo Credit: Benjamin Laird
3
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2019), courtesy of Alberta Theatre Projects
RESOURCES AT OUR DISPOSAL
Calgary is well-equipped to fuel the creative economy with
resources covering economic development, capacity building,
social connection, human development, and natural beauty. If
leveraged, these resources can catalyze change and inspire a
new creative direction for the city.
Economic Resources:
• At 71.6 percent, Calgary has the highest labour force
participation and highest labour force productivity of any
Calgary’s Creative major Canadian city.
Economy
• Calgary has the highest concentration of high-tech
workers, and the second highest number per capita of
small businesses and self-employed individuals.
Calgary is home to nearly 12,000 creative economy enterprises
• There are significant public investments being made into
employing over 32,000 people. This high ratio of enterprises
culture and cultural industries, with $18 million allocated
to employees reflects a growing trend towards a gig-oriented
to arts and culture spending in the 2020 municipal
economy, where individual creative professionals rely on gigs,
budget.
freelance work, and temporary contracts to make a living.
Capacity Building Resources:
CITY PLANS AND POLICIES
• Calgary is home to eight public and private post-
We reviewed 43 guiding documents at the municipal level that secondary institutions, offering 82 programs related to
surfaced shared themes and outcomes to better understand the creative economy.
city priorities. All of these documents weave a common thread
of building a more resilient, vibrant, diverse, connected, and • Post-secondary programs dedicated to creative industries
prosperous city, and all of them have touchpoints to Calgary’s represent the highest proportion of creative programming,
creative economy. Seven key areas of alignment were found with a large number of programs in broadcast media,
across these guiding documents: performing arts, and music.
• Economic Development Social and Structural Resources:
• Placemaking (physical experiences and perception of the • Roughly 50,000 Calgarians volunteer in the creative
City) economy, amounting to 7.3 million hours of productivity
• Civic Enrichment (incorporation of the arts in daily and creative output.
Calgarian life)
• Calgary has a network of 150 community associations
• Infrastructure that provide a conduit for building social and structural
• Transportation capital at the neighbourhood level.
• Arts and Culture (public and private organizations and
businesses) Human Resources:
• Education (schools and training) • With 33.7 percent of the population representing visible
minorities, Calgary is the third most ethnically diverse city
Most of these guiding documents have strategies which in Canada.
are being implemented in a siloed approach. A strategy that
bridges these silos to create a unified approach to community • Though the median age in the city is trending upward, the
prosperity would unlock the power of the creative economy as a current median age of Calgarians is 37.2 years, making
contributor to community prosperity. Calgary the fourth youngest city in Canada.
• Calgary has one of the highest levels of educational
attainment in Canada, and the highest proportion of
STEM graduates among major cities.
Natural Resources:
• Calgary is 62 km to the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
• It is at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers, both
running through densely populated areas of the city with
many accessibility points.
4
Opportunities for
Calgary’s Creative
Economy
SEVEN EMERGING TRENDS SHAPING
OUR ENVIRONMENT
1
The Competition for Talent:
There is a need to evolve the current labour
force to meet emerging needs, and there is an
Photo Credit: Cary Schatz
opportunity to leverage the creative economy to Ouri (2019), courtesy of Sled Island
attract talent across all industries.
2 5
Accelerating Technological Social Justice and Change:
Disruption: There is a deep discontent in Canadian society
The internet, social media, mobile devices, and and a demand for change, resulting in enormous
big data analytics have redefined the way society movements which aim towards confronting some
produces and consumes media, and these are of the core injustices in society, ranging from
likely to change further. systemic inequality to the growing wealth gap.
3 6
From Consumer to Co-Creator: The COVID-19 Longtail:
Over the next decade, the role of the creative The long-term fallout from COVID-19 remains
economy for consumers will expand dramatically unknown and will largely depend on the real and
as the system transitions to a model of innovation perceived threat of the pandemic to Calgarians
that leverages knowledge from individuals and and creative economy consumers. However,
enterprises across an ecosystem, rather than there will be operational implications such as the
being confined within a single company. increased demand for sanitation and hygiene, and
financial impact through reduced access to private
4
or public funding.
Changing Media Consumption:
7
Sustainability at the Centre:
Story forms, promotional or otherwise, will
continue to adapt and evolve from single form to The creative economy will continue to have a
transmedia storytelling, where the consumer is central role in shaping sustainable development
able to seamlessly shift from text to other media. by providing the designers, communicators, and
innovators to make fundamental changes to how
our economy currently operates.
CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORT 5
Being Inspired:
Creative Successes in
Calgary and
Around the World
In reviewing best-in-class creative cities across Canada, the US,
and the world, five key themes were identified for which Calgary
could utilize and align its own creative economy policies:
• Driving digital creativity
• Building entrepreneurial capacity
• Investing in creative spaces and places
• Integrating through collaboration
• Embedding creativity into decision-making
Photo Credit: Sebastian Buzzalino
Jean-Michel Blais (2018), courtesy of Studio Bell
CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORTA Creative Economy
Strategy for Calgary
VISION
Calgary is Canada’s most livable city
MISSION
Calgary’s creative economy is recognized as a global leader through a sustained, collaborative commitment to the city’s prosperity.
STRATEGIC PILLARS
To deliver our vision and mission, Calgary’s creative economy will be guided by four strategic pillars:
Embed audacious creativity into our Mobilize Calgary’s creative capacity:
city’s DNA: To develop and retain Calgary’s exceptional creative
To fully leverage the robust, growing creative economy talent, we must work to ensure creative professionals,
in Calgary, creativity needs to be at the heart of new or seasoned, have the knowledge, skills and
everything we do as a city. resources required to succeed.
Goals: Goals:
• By 2030, Calgary is known as a music city. • By 2030, the Calgary region leads Canada in the
integration of arts and experiential learning into
• By 2030, the greater Calgary region leads our K-12 classrooms.
Canada for number of film shoots per capita.
• By 2030, Calgary’s post-secondary creative
• By 2030, Calgary recognizes itself as a centre for programs have the highest graduate
culture and creativity. employment rates in Canada.
• By 2030, Calgary leads Canada in the number of
Priorities: creative economy workers per capita.
• Leverage the existing momentum of Calgary’s Priorities:
film and music industries to embed creativity
into our city’s brand and identity.
• Adapt educational programs to create a more
• Model the success of Calgary’s film industry and dynamic workforce.
extend to music and other creative industries.
• Foster creativity by building programs in a way
that layers career knowledge, skills building, and
access to opportunities in a scaffolded approach.
• Embed experiential learning and arts into formal
and informal education programs.
CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORT 7Incubate creative collisions: Value the diversity of Calgary’s
Unifying our creative economy under one identity creativity:
requires creating conditions for collaboration, cross- Calgary has an opportunity to tap into the unique
sector partnerships, knowledge transfer, and resource perspectives and experiences of our diverse creative
sharing. class to build something new, authentic, and meaningful
for everyone in the city.
Goals:
Goals:
• By 2030, Calgary leads Canada in creative
economy start-ups per capita. • By 2030, the make up of Calgary’s creative
• By 2030, Calgary is recognized as a global leader economy workforce is representative of the
for its sustained commitment to collaboration. population.
• By 2030, equity, diversity, inclusion and
Priorities: accessibility are prioritized and embedded into
creative economy workplaces and programming.
• Leverage our digital capacity to connect and • By 2030, creative economy enterprises and
strengthen Calgary’s creative economy. organizations celebrate their board-level
• Purposefully facilitate and encourage the diversity with pride and are encouraging other
collaboration of the creative economy across organizations to follow suit.
quadrants.
• Establish an implementing body to oversee the Priorities:
coordination and implementation of a creative
economy strategy. • Develop and adopt programs and policies to
ensure diverse individuals have the knowledge,
• Encourage play and exploration without fear of
skills and tools to succeed.
failure.
• Embed principles of equity, diversity, inclusion
and accessibility into the creative economy
strategy.
• Choose new faces and new voices to lead
change.
MOVING FORWARD
Over the next six months, we will endeavour to refine our understanding and prepare for the release of the CreativeCITY Strategic
Guidebook by mid-2022, which will outline specific objectives and activities that will be undertaken to make Calgary a world-leading
creative city and Canada’s most livable city.
In Phase 2, we will follow the progress of ‘small experiments with radical intent’. These four creative projects are already underway
in Calgary and align with each of our strategic pillars. The outcomes of these experiments will be used to further inform our creative
economy strategy. We will also engage in a series of public CreativeCITY round table discussions led by partners at the Mount Royal
University CityXLab, with subject matter experts and allies aimed at surfacing new areas of possibility.
In Phase 3, findings from this ecosystem report and our ‘small experiments with radical intent’ will inform a detailed community
consultation. Consultation results will refine our path forward and guide the development of the CreativeCITY Strategic Guidebook. The
Guidebook will provide formal recommendations for policy, community, and industry interventions to support community prosperity
through the creative economy.
8 CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORT2 SETTING THE STAGE
Photo Credit: Benjamin Laird
Matilda cast, courtesy of Storybook TheatreCalgary has high quality educational institutions,
a growing creative economy, and easy access to
Background
world-class outdoor and sporting activities.
The structural disruptions facing our economy, combined with
COVID-19, are causing community leaders to think differently
about the future of our city. Even prior to the current pandemic,
Calgary was facing serious economic and social headwinds.2
Fundamental structural changes in the oil and gas sector
contributed to Calgary having the highest unemployment rate of
Canada’s six largest cities over the past half decade.3 Moreover, Calgary has high quality educational institutions, a growing
the City forecasts4 this unemployment to continue well into the creative economy, and easy access to world-class outdoor and
2020s, and Calgary Economic Development anticipates that half sporting activities. Its potential for attracting tourism, investment
of the jobs performed by Calgarians today could be at risk of and talent will only increase if each of these experiential factors
automation over the next 20 years.5 can work cohesively on a broader strategy for community
prosperity. CreativeCITY is working with Rethink Calgary to build
Further, there are early warning signs suggesting that the socio- that cohesive strategy through aligning a CreativeCITY plan with
economic disruption facing our city is negatively impacting ActiveCITY and LearningCITY plans for a more cohesive, system-
the retention of young talent. For example, over the past level strategy.
decade, when the regional population grew by 250,000, those
aged 20-24 declined by 5.5 percent.6 Similarly, Calgary has See Figure-1 for an understanding of how these plans and
a disproportionate share of migration of people aged 20-40 organizations can work together with mutual accountabilities to
compared to other cities in Canada.7 make Calgary a more vibrant city.
ACTIVE EXPERIENCES CREATIVE EXPERIENCES
Organized sport Arts
Active recreation Culture
Health & wellness ACTIVE CREATIVE Entertainment
Active products/services Hospitality
ENABLERS
ENABLERS LEARNING EXPERIENCES
Transportation LEARNING Accredited
Urban design Non-accredited
Inclusivity Experiential
Cleanliness & safety
Figure 1 - Rethink Calgary
In this report, we explore what the creative economy is, where it is leading the way and where it is falling behind, and we identify
opportunities to create a shared vision for Calgary that leverages a key economic driver in our city for broader community prosperity.
10 CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORTDefining the CULTURAL SATELLITE ACCOUNT VIEW
Creative Economy In the Canadian context, Statistics Canada established the
Cultural Satellite Account (CSA). The CSA defines culture as a
creative artistic activity and the goods and services produced by this
creative activity and the preservation of heritage.”14
For decades, researchers have explored the impact of
(See Table-1)
knowledge, creativity and innovation as drivers of an
enterprise’s competitive advantage and growth.8 In the last 20
years researchers and policymakers identified that creativity Table-1. Creative industries
should also be considered at a community-level.9 Creativity is (Conference Board of Canada)15
the output of intentional, sustained, collaborative and social
processes beginning in childhood and reinforced through social Core domains Sub-domains
and cultural norms.10 When creative communities find support,
divergent and creative thinkers are able to collaborate with Heritage and libraries Archives
others who share this mindset. This contributes to reorienting Libraries
from a traditional industry sector lens (e.g. arts), to an ecosystem
Cultural heritage
lens (e.g. creativity across industries). As a result, a concept
called the creative economy was coined, incorporating diverse Natural heritage
fields including science and engineering, architecture, design, Libraries
education, arts, music and entertainment.
Cultural heritage
The idea of a creative economy has been influential as it does Live Performance Performing arts
not view fields such as education, arts, culture and innovation Festivals and celebrations
as isolated. Rather, by adopting an ecosystem view, the creative
economy can be used to map the interdependence of these Visual and applied arts Original visual art
fields as unique drivers of direct and indirect economic outputs.11 Art reproductions
Adopting this lens leads to a fundamental reassessment
Photography
of the role creativity plays in fields ranging from education
to organizational theory.12 One example of where this is Crafts
operationalized is in the United Kingdom’s (UK) Department Advertising
of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) which defines the creative
Architecture
economy as “those industries which have their origin in individual
creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth Design
and job creation through the generation and exploitation of Written and published works Books
intellectual property.”13
Periodicals
As one can well imagine, defining the exact parameters of each Newspapers
field within the sector can be challenging, and the boundaries of Other published works
the creative economy have been highly debated.
Collected information
Multi-subdomain
Audio-visual and interactive media Film and video
Broadcasting
Interactive media
Sound recording Sound recording
Music publishing
The idea of a creative economy has been
influential as it does not view fields such as
education, arts, culture and innovation as The CSA incorporates six core domains and 27 sub-domains.¹
isolated. Rather, by adopting an ecosystem view, The CSA framework was adopted by the Conference Board of
Canada to define the creative industries. Their analysis identified
the creative economy can be used to map the
that the creative industries included in the CSA employ 24,000
interdependence of these fields as unique drivers people, accounting for over $1.55 billion in household income
of direct and indirect economic outputs. for Calgarians.16
¹ The framework uses several criteria to determine what is and is not a culture product. A product is determined to be culture if it satisfies the general definition of culture (noted above) and satisfies one or
more of the following criteria:
1. The product must have copyright protection potential.
2. The product must support the creation, production, dissemination or preservation of culture.
3. It adds to the content of a culture product.
4. It preserves exhibits or interprets human or natural heritage.
5. It provides culture training or educational services.
CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORT 11NESTA VIEW
Others, such as the DCMS, the UK’s National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (Nesta), and the European Union adopted
variations on this sectoral approach, while also capturing sectors that are impacted by creative occupations.17 See Figure-2 for a four-
cluster creative economy model.
CULTURE CULTURE INDUSTRIES
• Visual arts CULTURE • Film & video
• Performing arts • Broadcasting
• Heritage • Gaming
• Museums • Music
• Libraries • Publishing
CREATIVE CULTURAL • Interactive media
INDUSTRIES INDUSTRIES
CREATIVE INDUSTRIES TRANSVERSAL INDUSTRIES
• Design • Cultural tourism
• Architecture • Creative education
TRANSVERSAL
• Photography • Computer system design
INDUSTRIES
• Advertising
• Fashion/accessories
Figure 2 - The Four-Cluster Nesta Model
Nesta further refined the sectoral model by evaluating the creative intensities within the creative sub-sectors. In their research the
occupation intensity ranges from 90 percent in artistic creation to 11 percent in computer programming. Overall, Nesta identifies that the
creative industries employ 25 times more creative occupations than non-creative industries.18
12
Photo Credit: John Cedric Acierto
Artifact Film Festival, courtesy of CSIFTo provide scope of the creative economy for the purpose of
this report, we adopted the UK’s DCMS model and mapped it to
the North American Industry Classification system (NAICs). This
mapping identified a total of 1280 sector categories, clustered
under 59 level-5 NAIC classes. Table-2 provides a sample of
mapping Nesta to NAICs. Refer to APPENDIX 1 for the full list.
Table-2. Mapping DCMS to NAICs
Creative
Nesta Class NAIC Class
Intensity
Artistic creation 90% Independent visual artists
and artisans
Performing Arts 80% Dance companies
Radio broadcasting 79% Radio broadcasting
Manufacture imitation 79% Jewelry and silverware
jewelry and related articles manufacturing
Photographic activities 73% Photographic services
Specialized design 65% Industrial design services
TV programming & 55% Television broadcasting
broadcast activities
Publishing of journals and 50% Periodical publishers
periodicals
Sound recording and music 40% Music publishers
publishing activities
Publishing of computer 38% Video game publishers
games
Museum activities 21% Historic and heritage sites
Cultural education 20% Fine arts schools
Computer programming 11% Computer systems design
activities and related services
Leveraging the Nesta creative economy model is important to
accurately map the current state of Calgary’s creative economy
and emerging opportunities.
Photo Credit: Michael Grimm
Library exterior, courtesy of the Calgary Public Library
CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORT 13Value of the
Creative Economy
The creative economy is not a means unto itself. Rather, the
value of the creative economy relates to how it contributes
to the prosperity of the community and everyone who lives
in it. Community prosperity incorporates four interdependent
dimensions:
• Economic prosperity: This includes measures of economic
activity at both an individual and community level.
• Human prosperity: This includes an individual’s real and
perceived skills, knowledge, mental and physical health19
such as life expectancy, health, and wellness.
• Social prosperity: This is a multi-dimensional concept that
examines the value of the collective community to an
individual. Examples of measures include both behavioral
(e.g. voting, volunteering) and perceptional (e.g. perceived
trust, safety).20
• Environmental prosperity: This includes measures associated
with the health and sustainability of a community’s natural
resources with examples including air quality and waste
management.
Photo Credit: Will Young
OK Go, courtesy of Arts Commons
14 CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORTVALUE AS A SYSTEM
One of the shortfalls of adopting a sectoral view of the creative economy is that it simplifies the complex interdependence between
the respective sectors and subsectors. For this reason, it is essential to adopt a system’s level view of the creative economy as a value
chain (Figure-3). This value chain recognizes that value is not generated only by individual enterprises but also by the way in which these
enterprises interact. To understand the interdependency of the value chain, it is essential to break it into discrete, but interdependent
building blocks. These building blocks form the community value chain incorporating community input resources, activities and outputs. This
value chain is anchored to measures of community prosperity.
Figure-3. Value as a system
Community input resources: This incorporates the Activities: Activities incorporate the enterprises and
diverse tangible and intangible resources that contribute to production processes that utilize a combination of two or more
developing activities and outputs. These community resources community input resources. For example, it may take human
can be categorized into five categories. resources (e.g., skills and experience), economic resources (e.g.,
funding) and built resources (e.g., a theatre or computer coding
• Built: Facilities developed to facilitate the delivery of camp) to develop and operate a program that offers free improv
creative economy outcomes. or coding classes for youth at risk.
• Natural: Natural resources that can be leveraged to
support creative economy outcomes.
Outputs: Outputs are the tangible and intangible products,
services or experiences generated by the creative economy
• Economic: Public and private financial resources available activities. For example, outputs generated by the above-
for investment in the production of creative economy mentioned improv program may include supportive relationships
outcomes. and increased self-esteem.
• Human: Intrinsic or learned knowledge, skills and
experiences at both an individual and collective level.
• Social & Structural: The intrinsic value of social
relationships that contribute to community building,
inclusive of the processes that facilitate community and
collaboration.
CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORT 15ECONOMIC VALUE
A city’s unique culture and “built heritage” can be a differentiating
factor, giving a city a competitive advantage in attracting visitors
over other cities.21 Cultural industries alone contributed $53.1
billion to Canada’s GDP in 2017, accounting for 667,000 jobs.22
The Conference Board of Canada concluded that creative
industries directly contributed $2.1 billion to Calgary’s GDP in
2016. That total rises to $3.85 billion when considering creative
industries’ supply chain impact and wages that are reinvested
into the economy.23 This impact also resulted in $48.8 million in
municipal tax contributions and $238.1 million in provincial tax
contributions in 2016.
These outputs, however, do not consider the full economic
impact of creativity across other industries. Sectors from oil
and gas, to agriculture, to finance all depend on creatives for
innovation and enhancing productivity: they are the designers,
problem solvers, and communicators that support industries
viewed as integral to Calgary’s economy. These creative
occupations, as outlined in the Nesta model above, permeate Photo Credit: Neil Zeller
every business, from designing new products to managing Chinook Blast (2021), courtesy of Tourism Calgary
advertising campaigns. Just as the tech sector shifted from
being viewed as a siloed industry to one that is a catalyst for
development across industries, the creative economy should be
In addition, the development of highly engaging creative spaces
treated as an essential enabler to economic growth.
within a city has been found to help attract and retain knowledge
The creative economy can provide significant economic impact workers, furthering the economic growth of the city.27 This is
for a community, if it is adequately supported through investment particularly important for retaining young adults. As the City’s
and planning. In Calgary, the creative economy could foster 2020 Outlook Survey demonstrates: 17 percent of people
greater economic diversification, provide jobs to creative workers, aged 18-24 in Calgary - the targeted age group for workforce
and play a role in attracting and retaining professional talent and retention - said that arts and culture is the most important
business investment. initiative that would make Calgary a more vibrant city.28
Development of other enabling factors such as safe streets,
The creative economy also supports long-term economic parks, libraries, and public buildings also represent an effective
sustainability. Automation threatens to eliminate up to half of form of economic development.29
all jobs in Calgary.24 However, an American study found that
although the US is expecting the same level of job loss due Creative and cultural cities are also more attractive to high-
to automation, 86 percent of creative jobs have little to no tech companies who will locate their offices based on where
risk of being replaced.25 Creative workers, whether designers, the most in-demand labour is, which, in this case, is those with
communicators, engineers, or problem solvers, have essential creative skills. Creatives are in high demand as creative thinking
transversal skills that can be applied across industries. Small has been found to develop better technological solutions to
investments in retraining and job placement programming could social and economic problems.30 With a growing presence of
be essential for creating new opportunities for the workforce in tech companies in Calgary, investing in a cohesive approach to
downward trending, low-growth industries. a creative economy that includes partners from tech and other
major industries could further attract and retain the young
Additionally, there is an increasing push to support the professional talent that these companies are looking for.
digitization of arts and creative sectors to adapt to the changing
technological climate. The Government of Canada, for example,
has launched Creative Canada, which will work to modernize
creative and cultural programming in the digital world.26 Indeed,
the alignment between the push for digitization and the general
insulation of creative jobs from automation can ensure a stable Creative workers, whether designers,
source of employment into the future. communicators, engineers, or problem solvers,
have essential transversal skills that can be
applied across industries.
16 CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORTSOCIAL VALUE
Creativity and the creative economy help create social value,
contributing to overall community prosperity. It is tied to greater High school students who engage in arts in school
levels of civic participation, urban revitalization, community are more likely to vote, volunteer, and get more
building, and social cohesion, which in turn can improve safety involved in their communities
and security and further strengthen the economy.
A strong creative economy developed by municipalities alongside
citizens makes cities more dynamic and meaningful places to live
by instilling a strong sense of local identity, cultural significance,
celebration, memory making, and pride.31 This is particularly
important for young people as well: research has shown that high
school students who engage in arts in school are more likely to
vote, volunteer, and get more involved in their communities.
Creativity is also linked to civic investment in the community, and
can lead to more impactful community design.32 This is supported
by a study published by Oxford University, which found that
when communities are engaged in public art initiatives, they are
more likely to have a sense of agency in shaping the community
and its outcomes.33
The creative economy is strongly tied to urban revitalization.
Creative industries and products can be gathering places for
diverse groups, and can enable the strengthening of cultural
identities and meaningful public dialogue. Spaces created
with creativity and community in mind foster inclusivity and
collaboration, and they can prevent emotional exhaustion and
weariness by encouraging critical and meaningful engagement
with the space and the individuals in it.34
Creative experiences are also tied to social
cohesion, appreciation for diversity, and
community-building.35 This can be further
accomplished by integrating Indigenous
thinking into visual arts, cultural institutions and
events in the spirit of reconciliation by basing
the creative community-led approaches on
Indigenous practices. Calgary is also known as
Moh’kinsstis, and it is the ancestral territory
of the Siksikaitsitapi—the Blackfoot people—
comprising the Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani Nations,
as well as Treaty 7 signatories, the Tsuut’ina
Nation, and the Îyâxe Nakoda Bearspaw, Chiniki,
and Wesley First Nations. This land is also the
home of Métis Nation Region 3. Calgary has an
opportunity to orient the creative economy with
guiding principles of renewal and revitalization in
partnership with local Indigenous communities.
By using creativity to rethink design, public spaces, events,
and how we engage with our Indigenous neighbours, Calgary
has an opportunity to strengthen social cohesion, improve
urban vitality, increase safety, and increase civic participation.
In turn, improvements in these areas can further attract
young, professional talent, as well as strengthen cross-cultural Photo Credit: Hero Images
Studio Space, courtesy of CAAF
relationships in Canada’s third most diverse city.
CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORT 17When encouraged to approach their work
creatively, students were more likely to take risks,
and they showed improvement in personal well-
HUMAN VALUE being and educational achievement.
Creativity is essential to developing individuals’ personal
identities, and it influences how we engage and relate to others
through shared experiences, values, and cultural connections.36
We see this every day in how we interact: friends attend live
concerts together; colleagues bond over the latest episodes of
a new television series; and professionals brainstorm creative
solutions to their problems through platforms designed by
creative individuals.
Positive benefits of creative approaches can be seen in
education. When encouraged to approach their work
creatively, students were more likely to take risks, and they
showed improvement in personal well-being and educational
achievement.37 New approaches to creative education at the
post-secondary level are also being used to support students
in developing successful careers in the creative economy by
giving them the skills, training and networking needed to thrive
by connecting them with mentorship and practical experience
opportunities. Some colleges and universities in Calgary are
taking initial steps in this direction, like in organizing hackathons
and case competitions for students to use creative thinking and
problem solving to address social challenges in our city.
Integrating creative approaches in the workplace is linked to
an increased sense of value and accomplishment in one’s work.
Conversely, workplaces that do not incorporate opportunities for
creativity are linked to an increased potential for mental health
deterioration due to monotony of routine, lack of engagement,
lack of personal fulfillment, and boredom.38
Creative self-expression outside of work is also linked to better
health outcomes.39 Participation in arts and culture-based
activities and events by individuals outside the creative economy
has been shown to greatly decrease feelings of depression
and anxiety.40 Examples of creative activities that can reduce
depression include museum and exhibition trips, concerts,
theatre outings, film viewing, outdoor activity, dance, singing, and
playing instruments. This is seen in more formal settings as well:
music therapy was credited as a valuable resource for mental
health issues as early as the 1800s.
Since COVID-19 began, creativity has been essential to
maintaining mental health. Social isolation prompted many
Photo Credit: Benjamin Laird
individuals to turn to the arts for outlets, dusting off their old The New Canadian Curling Club, courtesy of Alberta Theatre Projects
guitars or trying out painting for the first time; families were able
to stay connected through online platforms and games designed
by creative professionals; and streaming services’ stock prices
skyrocketed as a result of record high viewership.
Since COVID-19 began, creativity has been
essential to maintaining mental health.
18The creative economy and creative occupations
contribute the designers, communicators, and
problem-solvers needed to push development
in a direction that balances our impact on the
environment.
ENVIRONMENTAL VALUE
Since the industrial revolution began, the average global Long-term sustainability will require creative thinking and
temperature has risen 1.8 °C, and most of that warming occurred future-oriented planning to ensure that the economic, social,
just in the last 40 years.41 If this trend continues, the earth will and human development of the city are viable. Green solutions
face catastrophic changes, including more extreme weather to these issues will require interdisciplinary and intercultural
events, drought, flooding of coastal and island communities, loss approaches to find the best possible solutions for sustainable
of habitats and biodiversity, and record numbers of displaced growth, as well as remaining cost effective in the long term.46
people globally. Mitigating these effects and sustaining our
natural environment will require investment in research and Governments and businesses engaged with communities, as
innovation to find creative solutions. The creative economy and well as local entrepreneurs, must embrace the concept of
creative occupations contribute the designers, communicators, generational sustainability for community prosperity, embedding
and problem-solvers needed to push development in a direction Indigenous mindsets into long-term planning. This concept looks
that balances our impact on the environment. at the future of the community for generations to come, such
as the “Seven Generations Principle” which is a decision-making
Creatives are already responsible for significant developments in philosophy rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing whereby the
environmental sustainability: decisions we make today should lead to a sustainable world
seven generations into the future.47
• Architects and engineers work together to design
Investment in individuals, businesses, and civic projects with
more efficient, sustainable buildings, creating globally
the trajectory of long-term sustainability and creativity in mind
recognized standards for others to follow, such as the
can also help provide economic opportunities and facilitate the
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
placemaking goals of the city.48 This type of creative and out
certification.42
of the box thinking will not only help Calgary thrive for future
• Advertising specialists are using their creativity for generations, but can allow Calgary to be seen as a leader in
good through several private communications firms sustainable urban development.
dedicated to supporting environmental organizations in
communicating and marketing their programming.
• Filmmakers have produced countless documentaries and
fictional stories to raise awareness about our environment
and the threats it faces.
• Industrial designers have led the way in changing how
the products we use every day are produced, used, and
disposed of through the creation of circular design, where
products and business models are built to reuse and
recycle materials as well as last substantially longer than
current products.43
Right here in Calgary, there are several entrepreneurial creatives
moving the dial on environmental sustainability. DIRTT,
for example, is a Calgary-based design company that uses
technology and construction to build sustainable interiors for
offices all over the world.44 Sustainable Calgary has also been
working to advocate for sustainable design principles to be
incorporated into Calgary’s urban design, including reshaping
the walkability of the city, accentuating heritage sites in
development, and revitalizing lower-income neighbourhoods.45
CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORT 193 SITUATION ANALYSIS
Photo Credit: Chris Mandryk
LED Installation by ACAD, courtesy of BeakerheadCalgary’s Creative Economy Like many jurisdictions, Calgary has never fully adopted a holistic creative economy view. Rather, the creative economy remains highly fragmented. This fragmentation includes multiple levels of governments, civic bodies, political jurisdictions, and competing sectors. THE SCOPE OF CALGARY’S CREATIVE ECONOMY By utilizing the Nesta four-cluster model and associated intensity methodology, we evaluated the current scope of Calgary’s creative economy. This analysis identifies a total of almost 12,000 creative economy enterprises. As per Figure-4, 67 percent of these enterprises do not have employees. As per Figure-5, though these enterprises employ over 32,000 people, this is reduced to 12,000 once the creative intensity is overlayed into the model. The outlier in this current model is the transversal industries, the category of computer systems design and related services. This single category accounts for 6000 enterprises. Prior to the intensity allocation, it represents 52 percent of the 32,000 people in the creative economy. Following the intensity allocation of 11 percent, this reduces to 19 percent.2 2 The current model excludes economic impact associated with creative/cultural tourism.
A CHANGING CREATIVE LANDSCAPE
Perhaps the biggest change facing workers in Calgary’s
creative industries is the increasing shift from traditional
forms of employment to gig-based work models.49 For writers,
Gig-based work in our city’s creative industries photographers, branding consultants, advertising creative
now represents 41 percent of all employment. directors and others in Calgary’s creative industries, the shape
of everyday work is changing rapidly. Their traditional employers
– marketing, communications, advertising and branding focused
enterprises – are hiring more freelance, gig-based and contract
creative workers than ever, while shrinking their in-house staff at
record rates. Gig-based work in our city’s creative industries now
represents 41 percent of all employment, and creatives are more
than twice as likely as other Canadians to be self-employed or
working in a gig, contract, freelance or piecework model.50 This
freelance economy has become mainstream as companies and
talent alike recognize the benefits of employment on-demand.51
Indeed, gig work has become the expectation for creative
Creatives are more than twice as likely as other professionals, rather than the exception to the rule.
Canadians to be self-employed or working in a
gig, contract, freelance or piecework model. This shift has influenced every quadrant of the creative economy
ecosystem – from culture and the culture industries to creative
education and creative industries – but the impact is made
especially visible in the marketing and communications sector.52
This comes as no surprise: according to a recent McKinsey and
Company report,53 the heightened rate of transition between
traditional employment models and gig based work is happening
most at the intersection of knowledge-intensive industries and
creative economy sectors . According to the Conference Board
of Canada, Canadian based creative workers in marketing and
communications sectors are leaving traditional employment
Canadian based creative workers in marketing and structures and stable connections to creative economy
enterprises (agencies, studios and firms in the marketing
communications sectors are leaving traditional
and communications sector) at higher rates than any other
employment structures and stable connections participants in the creative economy.
to creative economy enterprises (agencies, studios
and firms in the marketing and communications As the creative industry sectors in Canada shift more and more
sector) at higher rates than any other participants towards a gig-based employment model,54 understanding the
in the creative economy. strategies required for creative workers to thrive becomes
increasingly important.
Moreover, the lack of a shared civic vision constrains the capacity
building of the sector. Research identifies that the clustering
of individuals and enterprises facilitates capacity building
through information diffusion and a concentration of labour
and efficiencies. This also contributes to focused investment in
training and professional development to support the continued
growth of a cluster.
22 CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORTCity Plans and Policies
Emerging from an initial audit of City and civic plans, we have PATHWAYS TO INTEGRATION
identified 43 guiding documents that have a common thread
of building a more resilient, vibrant, diverse, connected, and If properly integrated into City planning and policymaking,
prosperous city, and all of those documents have touchpoints to the creative economy could be a central influencing factor in
Calgary’s creative economy. All 43 were assessed to help identify outcomes related to economic development, placemaking, and
critical areas of interest and potential areas of growth for the City civic enrichment by establishing new ways for Calgarians to
of Calgary. The assessment focused on the desired outcomes participate in the creative economy as both consumers, workers
described in each plan and looked for points of alignment and and co-creators. Other areas will depend more heavily on city
divergence between them. Based on this assessment, we found planning and public and private sector investment, particularly
7 areas of alignment across these guiding documents: in infrastructure development, transportation, and education.
However, these areas of interest are key enabling factors that
can support the effective development of a creative city.
• Economic Development
• Placemaking (physical experiences and perception of the Job creation is also mentioned several times across various civic
City) plans, such as Calgary Economic Development’s Calgary in the
New Economy. However, talent retention is less significant in the
• Civic Enrichment (incorporation of the arts in daily
plans focused on economic development, which is problematic
Calgarian life)
for building a robust creative economy. A talent retention
• Infrastructure strategy to supplement current job creation strategies could
• Transportation better address the broader issues related to the brain drain
currently taking place in Calgary. This can also be connected
• Arts and Culture (public and private organizations and to planning in education, which was also underrepresented in
businesses) the civic plans that have touchpoints to the creative economy.
• Education (schools and training) CityXLab’s Learning City—Learning Our Way Forward is an integral
report that addresses institution-specific needs in Calgary,
such as transitioning to open and purpose-based learning
Of these areas of interest, outcomes related to economic
systems. These systems can ensure people are empowered and
development in Calgary far outnumber those of other areas,
accountable for their development, supported by arts training
indicating a strong focus on economic development at the
and experiential learning, and can create post-graduation work
city level. Second to economic development was placemaking,
opportunities to retain talent in the city after students finish.
followed by civic enrichment. These general categories were also
further broken down into more specific subtopics based on the Cross-sector collaboration allows for a broad coalition of actors
individual outcomes each plan was created to achieve. A full list in the city to come together and tackle the various facets of
of outcomes identified and their relative intensity throughout what the CreativeCITY Strategic Guidebook could entail. Some of
these City plans can be found in APPENDIX 2. the civic plans with a longer-term focus, such as Calgary in the
New Economy, City of Calgary’s SMART Cities Approach, Learning
These areas of alignment across civic plans are important
City—Learning Our Way Forward, City of Calgary’s Resilient Calgary
considerations in ensuring outcomes in the creative economy
Strategy, and City of Calgary’s Climate Resilience Strategy, provide
are directly tied to economic development, placemaking, and
a cursory indication of the need for cross-sector collaboration
civic enrichment, which could better encourage the creation
within the City. The Resilient Calgary Strategy also addresses
of a shared vision for the city and reduce fragmentation across
the need to work collaboratively across governmental levels
strategies for a more cohesive approach.
(municipal, provincial, and federal) to respond to citizens’
economic needs. However, these documents do not always
provide tangible actions or plans to build these connections.
The CreativeCITY Strategic Guidebook can help fill some gaps
by recognizing the interconnectedness of various sectors and
identifying common goals.
CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORT 23Living a Creative Life
Creative Economy Specific Policies
NEW POLICY POSSIBILITIES
Civic Arts Policy
There are many areas of interest which are less frequently used
in Calgary plans and policies, but are valuable for Calgary’s
creative economy strategy. The City of Calgary Digital Strategy and
City of Calgary’s
the Tourism Strategic Plan are among the few that address the Downtown Strategy
necessary digital shifts that need to be taken for future economic
planning. There is an opportunity in the CreativeCITY Strategic
Guidebook to incorporate digital connections in a variety of areas,
including training and professional development, community Cultural Landscape Strategic Plan
building, and civic engagement.
Calgary’s CreativeCITY Strategic Guidebook also presents a unique Culture Infrastructure Strategy
opportunity to integrate civic plans that already have areas of
alignment as well. This alignment covers a range of longer-term
and shorter-term outcomes and goals for the city. For example,
Calgary in the New Economy addresses entrepreneurship to Cultural Plan
help foster economic diversification and generate jobs, talent
retention opportunities, and placemaking by building the Calgary
brand. Incidentally, all of these goals are burgeoning areas of
Calgary’s creative economy and can support creative economy Festival and Events Policy
goals. There are also plans with creative economy-specific
policies and strategies such as:
• City of Calgary’s arts development strategy Living a Public Art Policy
Creative Life
• City of Calgary’s Civic Arts Policy
• City of Calgary’s Downtown Strategy
• City of Calgary’s Cultural Landscape Strategic Plan
• City of Calgary and Calgary Arts Development’s Arts and
Culture Infrastructure Strategy
• City of Calgary’s Cultural Plan There are even more citywide documents that focus on enabling
factors which support the functionality of a creative economy.
• City of Calgary’s Festival and Events Policy These include transportation plans such as the City of Calgary’s
• City of Calgary’s Public Art Policy Transportation Plan, RouteAhead, and Step Forward, which all
support easy and affordable access to facilities and venues for
audiences. These also include other placemaking initiatives
All of these plans and policies could be aligned with the
developed by the City of Calgary such as imaginePARKS, the
CreativeCITY Strategic Guidebook and should, therefore, be
Downtown Strategy, and the Municipal Development Plan. These
incorporated into any new planning measures.
plans help provide meaning and connectedness, and enhance
Few civic plans consider the intersection between the creative residents’ and visitors’ experiences in the city.
economy and the wider economy in great detail, leading to a
Despite the number of plans and policies that are connected
fragmentation of ideas and goals. City of Calgary and Calgary
to the creative economy, there is a need for development of a
Arts Development’s Arts and Culture Infrastructure Plan does
strategy that identifies the alignments in order to fully realize
provide a more tailored approach to this type of integration and
the benefits of a strong creative economy. With a cohesive,
could be considered as a model to replicate when drafting policy
fully integrated Strategic Guidebook that pulls in all necessary
recommendations for a creative economy strategy. A list of plans
stakeholders, aligns with existing strategies, and ensures
that could be most useful in building the Strategic Guidebook
consideration for creative industries, we can then take advantage
can be found in APPENDIX 2.
of the possibilities.
24 CreativeCITY: Prosperity through the Creative Economy ECOSYSTEM REPORTYou can also read
